Conan Exiles: North American Version Adds Underwear to Nude Characters

Weapons sheathed in American territories.

Upcoming multiplayer barbarian survival game Conan Exiles launches on the Xbox One Game Preview programme this Wednesday, August 16 - but gamers in Europe and America are going to see a slight difference in gameplay, and that difference involves genitals.

Specifically, as reported over at Eurogamer, European gamers will be able to play with as much or as little clothing as they like, right down to parading round in birthday suits; the game even embraces the spirit of customisation by including a slider to increase or decrease the size of your - ahem - weapon.

The more demure American version, however, will only allow for partial (i.e. top-half) nudity. This applies to both male and female barbarians in both territories; female genitalia is also visible in the European version although not as, erm, dramatically.

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The reason, as explained by Community Manager Jens Erik in an Xbox One video stream, has to do with the differing age-rating organisations in the two territories.

listed as 18+, whereas the American ESRB system currently lists the title as an M. This rating would increase were full nudity included, and concerns that this would restrict a broader release of the game led the team to make the decision to tone down the game's content.

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On August 16, the game will also receive the free expansion Frozen North, along with a huge update for the core game, focusing on rebalancing certain mechanics; specifically the tutorial, air temperatures and AI, along with more cosmetic enhancements such as facial hair and physique sliders. As detailed by game director Joel Bylos, the team are considering this the beginning of 'Early Access Phase 2'.

Following the game's lengthy early access period, Conan Exiles is expected to release on PC, Xbox One and PS4 in early 2018.

Matt Davidson is a freelance writer for IGN whose mother dreamed that one day he'd be writing a piece about barbarian genitalia. Follow him on Twitter (where genitalia very rarely features).

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